Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "That Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that:

— the Housing for All: A New Housing Plan for Ireland, the Government's housing plan, is working, and supply, which is key to improving our housing system, is increasing, and to the end of September over 55,000 homes were either commenced (27,417) or completed (27,773), the number of completions in the first three quarters of 2022 was greater than the total for 2021 or any full year since the Central Statistics Office completions series began;

— a record €4.5 billion in State housing investment will be made available in 2023, and this will underpin the ambitious Housing for All plan and deliver the largest State home building programme ever, with 9,100 direct build social homes and 5,500 affordable homes; and €1.3 billion will be spent on affordability measures, supporting homeownership in 2023; and

— in spite of shutdowns in construction due to the Covid-19 pandemic, economic headwinds and supply chain issues due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022 will see the highest overall housing delivery, highest social housing delivery, highest affordable housing delivery, highest Cost Rental delivery and highest number of first-time buyers in over a decade;

further notes that, with regard to:

— the delivery of social housing:

— the 2021 Summary of Social Housing Assessments showed that there was a 4.3 per cent decrease in the number of households assessed as being qualified for, and in need of, social housing support in 2020 and there has been a 35.3 per cent decrease in the social housing waiting list since 2016, when the first annual assessment was conducted;

— despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, over 23,300 households had their housing needs met in 2021, when 9,183 social homes were provided even though most residential construction was halted for a 13-week period from January to April;

— this year will see the largest social housing delivery in generations; and

— in addition, at the end of Q2 this year, over 77,500 household tenancies were supported under the Housing Assistance Payment and the Rental Accommodation Scheme;

— income eligibility for social housing:

— the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has recently approved changes to the social housing income eligibility bands for five local authorities – Carlow, Clare, Galway County, Laois and Westmeath – with the baseline income threshold for these areas increasing from €25,000 to €30,000, these changes came into effect from 1st October, 2022; and

— the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has subsequently further approved an additional nationwide €5,000 increase in all Social Housing income bands with effect from 1st January, 2023;

— affordable housing delivery:

— its continued roll-out is key to improving our housing system, and acknowledges that 2022 is the first full year of affordable housing delivery in a generation;

— Cost Rental housing – a new form of State-backed secure, long-term rental tenure through which rents are aimed at a minimum of 25 per cent below open market rates – is being delivered at scale, and that hundreds of Cost Rental homes are now tenanted;

— the Government's new First Home Shared Equity Scheme, which was introduced in July, is proving very successful, with already almost 700 applications approved for first-time buyers;

— the Government's new Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund Scheme, a vacant or derelict property grant of up to €50,000, has received over 400 applications to date, and the scheme has been extended to cover city centre and rural areas this month;

— local authority-provided affordable purchase schemes are also being delivered, enabling people to purchase homes at discounted rates in return for the local authority holding equity in the home; and

— the Local Authority Home Loan scheme, for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants on low or modest incomes who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial lenders, has been expanded;

— tackling supply and affordability issues in the rental market:

— the Government has strengthened renters' rights and controls on rent increases, and in Budget 2023 the Government is making a €500 credit available to every renter, backdated to 2022;

— tenancy protections have been enhanced, including for those in student specific accommodation, under a number of recent Rental Bills providing stronger rent controls and security of tenure:

— from 11th December, 2021, a cap of two per cent per annum pro rata applies to rent increases in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) when the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices inflation rate is higher; rent reviews outside of RPZs can, until 2025, occur no more frequently than bi-annually; and this provides rent certainty for tenants outside of RPZs for a minimum two-year period at a time;

— since August 2021, the total amount that a tenant is required to pay to a landlord by way of a deposit or an advance rent payment to secure a tenancy has been restricted (i.e. any deposit cannot exceed one month's rent and any advance rent payment cannot exceed one month's rent), therefore, a restriction of the equivalent of one month's rent is also placed on the amount that a tenant is obliged to pay as a regular advance rent payment to a landlord during a tenancy; and

— to enhance security of tenure for tenants, all new tenancies created on or after 11th June, 2022 will become tenancies of unlimited duration once the tenancy has lasted more than six months and no valid Notice of Termination has been served on the tenant;

— furthermore, from 6th July, 2022:

— extended notice periods, by approximately two months, are to be given to tenants when serving a Notice of Termination (where there has been no breach of tenant obligations) in tenancies of less than three years duration; and

— the period from the date of receipt of a 'no fault' Notice of Termination for a tenant to submit a dispute to the Residential Tenancies Board for resolution is increased from 28 days to 90 days; and

— the Government intends to commission a comprehensive review of the private rental sector to take account the significant regulatory changes over the past several years, some of which is detailed above; and the review, which will be complete by the end of June 2023, will ensure that our housing system provides an efficient, affordable, safe and secure framework for both landlords and tenants; and

— student accommodation:

— in October, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science updated the Cabinet Committee on Housing and received support on initial plans for policy development for the provision of student accommodation, and the Minister and his Department are actively progressing a new policy that bridges the challenging gap between the viability of delivering purpose-built student accommodation and subsequent rental affordability for students; and

— this will include, for the first time, the State assisting with the cost of building student accommodation beds and unlocking projects which have been postponed in return for affordable rents for target students; and detailed work is currently being advanced with a section dedicated to student accommodation having been established in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science;

acknowledges that the increase in homelessness seen in recent months is a serious concern for Government, and this is being actively addressed:

— by legislating for a temporary measure that protects renters who are facing homelessness by deferring any 'no fault' tenancy terminations from taking place this winter; and while this emergency measure is necessary and provides assistance in the short-term, the long-term answer to these accommodation challenges remains an increased and sustainable supply of new homes, such as through the State-led expanded social and affordable housing programmes operating under the Housing for All strategy; and

— Budget 2023 provides funding of over €215 million, an increase of 10 per cent on last year, for the delivery of homeless prevention measures, emergency accommodation and to support households to successfully exit homelessness;

the Government is progressing a number of specific actions to address the housing needs of these households and those at risk of becoming homeless, through a wide range of support programmes, including:

— a new voids programme for 2022 with increased funding;

— reinstating delegated sanction to allow local authorities to pursue appropriate acquisitions;

— modifications to the Repair and Leasing Scheme, to open up more opportunities to include conversion of commercial units to residential, increasing the number of 'Housing First' tenancies for those entrenched in homelessness;

— expanding outreach services;

— the National Homeless Action Committee has been established, which ensures the continued coherence and coordination of homeless related services, policies and actions; the new Housing First National Implementation Plan 2022-2026 has also been published and expands Housing First targets, with over 1,300 new Housing First tenancies to be introduced over the next five years;

— Ireland has signed the Lisbon Declaration on the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness, committing to working towards the ending of homelessness by 2030;

— the Youth Homelessness Strategy 2023-2025 was published by Minister O'Brien on 9th November, 2022; and

— in the immediate term, in Dublin, there are over 400 additional beds due to come on stream through a combination of new short-term leasing agreements, the opening of a new family facility and the re-opening of a facility following temporary closure for essential works; and over half of these additional beds will be operational in the coming weeks, the remainder in the coming months;

furthermore, acknowledges that, with regard to:

— supporting the delivery of Traveller-specific accommodation:

— capital funding was fully drawn-down by local authorities in the past two years, amounting to €14.5 million in 2020, and €15.5 million in 2021, with the capital funding for 2022 amounting to €18 million for Traveller-specific accommodation, ensuring that funding is on a sustainable path for the provision of timely accommodation to meet the needs of Traveller families and funding will increase further in 2023 to €20 million; and

— a mid-term review of local authority Traveller Accommodation Programmes 2019 to 2024 is currently being undertaken by local authorities, and this Government, working with the local authorities, will continue on its objective of delivering Traveller-specific accommodation, now within the framework of Housing for All strategy and ensuring that a range of accommodation options are available;

— housing supports for disabled and older people:

— the new National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027, commits to ensuring that affordable, quality housing with an appropriate mix of housing design types provided within social housing, including universally designed units, is available to everyone in Irish society, including those with disabilities and older people;

— an implementation plan for the strategy will be published by year end to include actions for three Departments and a number of agencies; and a comprehensive eight-month consultation period informed the development of the strategy and identified the key policy and practical steps that need to be in place to achieve its aims; and

— disabled and older people are entitled to all of the housing supports and have access to all schemes in like manner with other citizens; returns from local authorities indicate an increase year-on-year in allocations of social housing to households with disability as a primary basis of need; and in 2016 there were 1,179 such households accommodated increasing to 2,093 households in 2020 representing 11 per cent of total allocations for 2020, while data for 2021 is currently being compiled by the Housing Agency; and

— planning:

— the first comprehensive Planning Consolidation Bill in a quarter of a century will be brought to Government in December and will streamline, simplify and accelerate planning;

— innovative new Kenny report style powers will be introduced in a new Planning Bill in December; and

— the overhaul and resourcing of An Bord Pleanála will be legislated for in the coming weeks; and

the Government remains fully committed to the implementation of Housing for All strategy and achieving the targets set out within, and the Housing for All action plan update, published on 2nd November, allows the Government to redouble its efforts on priority measures to activate and accelerate the delivery of housing supply."

Nothing is more important to this country than tackling the housing crisis head on. After a decade of under supply, rents are too high. We know that. The level of home building is too low and too many young people cannot buy their own home.

Far too many of our most vulnerable are without a safe and secure roof over their heads. That said, there is cause for optimism and hope. Housing for All is the biggest housing plan in the history of our State. It is the single biggest intervention that any Government has made in housing. It invests more than €4 billion per year, an unprecedented amount, to build 300,000 new homes between now and 2030. It is a fundamental step change in housing policy on a scale we have not seen before. Capital funding was only €400 million in 2016 and next year, it will be €4.5 billion. In addition, we are overhauling our planning laws to cut red tape and streamline approvals to help get Ireland building. For the first time, there is a fully funded, whole-of-government approach which encompasses every single Department. We need all hands on deck to address this crisis.

After a decade of undersupply, completions and planning permissions are up and first-time buyer levels are at the highest level since 2008. Those are facts. The plan is starting to work and will deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030 to finally help to solve the housing crisis we are in. More than 27,000 units were completed in the past 12 months alone, with planning permission for more than 44,000 granted. The scale of the challenge is enormous. Housing is an emergency for all of those people who are homeless, struggling to pay rent or trying to find somewhere affordable to buy. I have repeatedly said that. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, and Housing for All will get us there.

It is important to put on the record of the House some of the key measures that have already been brought forward. We have established the game-changing first-home shared equity scheme to help people who are stuck in a rental trap to buy their own home. We expanded the help-to-buy scheme, with €30,000 available for first-time buyers, and introduced a new grant of €50,000 for vacant and derelict properties to help people with the cost of buying those homes. The first affordable purchase homes in well over a decade have been delivered through local authorities this year, with starting prices of €166,000 in Dublin. We have established the fresh start principle in State housing schemes to support divorced and separated people and introduced a renter's tax credit worth €1,000 in 2023 for each renter. We have made cost rental a reality, after it had been spoken about for years, with rents at least 25% below the market price and tenants now in place. We have expanded the tenant purchase scheme eligibility to include pensioners, passed our first Affordable Housing Act and revamped and capitalised the Land Development Agency, LDA, to focus on affordable and social homes.

We have banned co-living and will end build-to-rent only apartments. We have capped rent increases and brought back 6,000 voids already and we will bring 2,500 more voids this year. We have expanded the very valuable Housing First programme to 1,300 new tenancies for vulnerable homeless people and, recognising the extraordinary pressures people are under, we have brought forward and introduced a winter eviction ban. I assure the Dáil that I will use every weapon in our armoury to get bricks and mortar on the ground for homes that working people can afford and support those without adequate shelter.

Unfortunately, today's motion is about semantics rather than action. Housing for All is a plan for the next decade but one that Deputy Ó Broin threw out after just one day. However, neither the Deputy or any other Opposition Member has produced any detailed plan comparable to Housing for All. Sinn Féin has been way behind the Government on policy decisions. It called for €2.8 billion in capital funding, which is much less than the €4 billion Government is providing, yet it will still say it will build more homes for less money. That does not add up.

Sinn Féin did not even specify how much money it would invest in housing in its pre-budget submission just a couple of months ago because it knows it would be less than the Government has provided, which combines Exchequer, Housing for All and LDA funding. I take it the Deputies opposite do not wish to see schemes such as Shanganagh Castle, which is under way and will produce 600 cost rental, affordable and social homes, because they oppose the LDA and voted against it.

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